Roofing element



Sept. 26, 1939. Q TE 2,174,098

ROOFING ELEMENT Filed May 25, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l L l H W Patented Sept. 26, 1939 r PATENT OFF-ICE ROOFING ELEMENT Oscar Stein, St. Paul, Minm, assignor to United States Gypsum Company, Chicago, 111., a cor"- poration of Illinois Application May 25, 1936, Serial No. 81,635

, scrum. (01. 108-7) This invention relates to a roofingelement.

commonly referred to as a strip shingle and having a body portion and a plurality of tab portions depending therefrom.

As hereinafter described, the single strip as a whole, or the portion thereof which is exposed when a number of strips 'are laid to form a roof, may be provided with colored granules in the form of bands extending from the'butt end of the tabs towards the top-or overlapped portion of the shingle strip. A desirable effect is obtained by so manufacturing the hereafter-described strips that the lines between the color bands do not coincide with the slots between tabs.

. scribed is a tab of novel and attractive character- The color bands may be of equal width or they may vary in width to produce the effect hereinafter more fully described.

A further feature of the shingle hereafter deistics and form, each main tabconsistm' of two parts of unequal length. A definitely formed slot is provided between eachof the main tab portions. l

The shingle last discussed is of the type referred to in the trade as a "shake" shingle. The particular novel type of strip shake shingle which is hereafter claimed has a number of definite advantages. Approximately ten per cent less material is necessary to obtain the same coverage as compared with what are known as 4-in-1 square butt shingles. The novel-contoured tab portions, separated asthey are from each other by definitely-formed slots, are not monotonous in appearance, as has sometimes been foundtobe the efiect of shingles which do not have such contours.

The shingle elements may be formed with the novel form of depending tabs as hereinbefore described but without having the just-referred-to color band scheme'applied thereto. However, the combination of these two features definitely produces a pleasing accentuated shake effect, which is a desirable result in the shingle art. Finally, it has been found that a tab of the contour herein described exhibits a remarkable resistance to being lifted by the wind. This may be the result of the longer-extending tab portion being so much smaller than the'square tab which is usually found in shingle strips.

Inasmuch as the shingle strips herein described,

particularly when embodying both of the hereinbefore-indicated characteristics-ire the hereinbefore-indicated arrangement of color bands cou-' pled with the novel contour of the tab-may be applied progressively to a roof without pre-arweb;

rangement'in order to avoid monotonous designs,

it follows that case of application and formation of desirable attractive and non-monotonous roofs are concomitants of the present invention. The roofing trade is at present definitely eager for 5 new products which can be applied to roofs to produce novel and attractive effects such as result from the laying of the' shingle strips which are herein described. The inventionwillbe best understood in connection with the accompanying l0 drawings, in'which: a

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a web from which shingle strips embodying the invention herein described may be cut after the web is coated and gritted with a single color;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an individual strip shingle cut from the web of Fig. 1; v Fig. 3 is a plan view of a web to which four color bands, each differing from thepther in hue but all having thesame width, have been ap- 20 plied, the left-hand end of the web representing the appearance thereof before the cutting devices operate thereupon while the manner of cutting the same is shown at the right-hand end of the Fig. 4 illustrates a single strip shingle as cut from the web shown in Fig. 3-;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of web to which color bands, similar to those shown in Fig. 3 but of dissimilar widths, are applied; and

Fig. 6 illustr'atesastrip shingle cut from a web which has been gritted as shown in Fig. 5.

In producing strip shingles as indicated in Fig. 2, a web of the usual saturated roofing felt (Fig. 1) is coated with asphalt and is then gritted.

The web is assumed to be then passed'beneath cutting devices which form the strip shown in Fig. 2. Here again,--these cutting devices being no part of the present application,only their effect upon the webis indicated? it being evident from a consideration of Fig. 1 that the web has been slotted at points i0l0 and that it has also been longitudinally severed along the line H. Finally, transverse cuts l2 have been made in the web with the combined result of forming strips as shown in Fig. 2 having alternate long and short tab portions along one edge.

e A preferred form of cutting the web comprises punching out the material from the slots l0l8, then slitting longitudinally along the line H, and finally transversely cutting along the lines l2. With such a chronology of steps, the shake shingle shownin Fig. 2 is formed with practically no waste of material, it being noted that the tab ends are so formed that they are substantiallv B6 complemental to each other. It is important, however, to observe that the material punched out for the slots III is wasted. Although this amount is very small and does not substantially affect the cost of producing the shingle, the formation of the slots at the points and of the character indicated is of marked importance in adding to the contour of the shingle a distinguishing characteristic which causes this strip shingle to be markedly distinctive in appearance,both when considered as a unitary element and when a plurality of such shingles are placed upon a roof. I

punched of such length that the longer part of the depending tab portion extends about twice as far from the body of the strip as does the shorter part of the tab portion.

While, as hereinbeiore indicated, the shake shingle may be made in solid colors, the appearance thereof is enhanced by utilizing verticallyextending bands of different colors on the strip. In Fig. 3 is illustrated a web which hasbeen coated and then gritted with a number of bands of diilferent colors, which latter are cyclically applied to the web by an apparatus which need not here be described. The bands shown at the left-hand end of Fig. 3 are of equal widths. The cutting devices heretofore indicated as being used to cut the web shown in Fig. 1 are caused to operate upon the coated and gritted web of Fig. 3 with the result as shown at the right-hand end thereof, the novelty of this step residing in cutting the web into strip shingles having slots between tabs, which slots do not coincide with the division lines between color bands. This oi! slot" cutting definitely enhances the desired effect in connection with a shingle of the contour illustrated. The "off slot" cutting may. of course, be used in connection with strip shingles having other con- .tours. A single strip shingle produced from a web which has been treated and cut as indicated in Fig. 3 is shown in Fig. 4.

A further modification which may be employed in forming shingles embodying one or more of the above novel features comprises applying bands of differently-colored grits, the adjacent bands being dissimilar in width. Such a gritted web is shown at the left-hand end 01' Fig. 5, it being observed that adia'cent bands of color dii- Ier not only in hue, but also that the adjacent bands are of dissimilar width. Such a web may then be cut in a manner similar to that described in connection with Figs. 1 and 3, care being taken that the majority of the slots do not coincide with division lines between color lanes. Such a dissimilarity in the width of the bands, combined with the of! slot cutting, additionally enhances the shake eflect of the shingle. Over the course of a day's run, it may be that. because of the irregular width of the color bands and the regular recurrence of the slots at definite intervals.

there may now and then be an accidental 001nCidence between the slots and a division line be- It will be noted, iurther, that the slots are tween color bands. .By and large, however, such a coincidence is avoided, although it is not possible to guarantee the absence of such event for the reason Just suggested. A strip shingle cut from the web treated as in Fig. 5 is shown in Fig. 6.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A roofing element comprising a plurality of similarly contoured main tab portions depending from a body portion, each of said main tab portions consisting of two parts oi unequal length, said two parts respectively constituting a long rectangular portion and 'an integral short rectangular portion, whereby said main tab porseparated from each other by slots therebetween.

3. A roofing element comprising a plurality of similarly contoured main tab portions depending from a body portion, each of said main tab portions consisting of two parts of unequal length. said two parts respectively constituting a relatively long portion and a short portion integral therewith, whereby said main tab portions form a row of alternate long and short tab portions along one edge of said body portion, each of said tab portions being provided with a plurality of color bands extending longitudinally of said portions with the divisions between said bands lying within said tab portions.

. 4. A roofing element comprising a plurality of similarly: contoured main tab portions depending from a body portion, each of said main tab portions consisting of two parts of unequal length, said'two parts respectively constitutinga relatively long portion and a short portion integral therewith, said main tab portions being separated from each other by slots therebetween. said element having a plurality of bands of different colors extending from the butt edge toward the top thereof, the divisions between said bands being non-coincidental with said slots.

5. A roofing element comprising a plurality of similarly contoured main tab portions depending from a body portion, each oi said main tab portions consisting of two parts oi unequal length, said two parts respectively constituting a long rectangular portion and an integral short rectangular portion, said main tab portions being separated from each other by slots therebetween,

' each of said tab portions being provided with a plurality of color bands extending longitudinally oi. said portions with the divisions between bands lying intermediate said slots, adjacent color bands being of dissimilar width. 

